Faocibh gnìomha latha na’m bliadhna dh’aom. -- "Behold the deeds of days that are past!"
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INTRODUCTION
No Campbell, or person of a related name, who was not brought up in Scotland itself should ever feel that because they are out of touch with the incredible riches of their clan heritage that they are in any way less a "Campbell." The history is there, and for some the genes also. Whether the "heart is Highland" is a matter of understanding and of personal style. What may be missing is that informed knowledge and lively practice of the culture of the Highlander. Well-found elements of that can be absorbed and passed on to the next generation so that it is once again a living heritage, although renewed for the present age.
The purpose of this web site is to attempt an outline or ABC of that living heritage so that those who yearn to investigate it further, and to make it their own, can start from a knowledge base that is sincere. If you can happily make the facts, inferences and courtesies indicated here your own, one thing is certain. You will know more about the Campbell background than have most Campbells before you.
Because there are those for whom time is precious or reading a pain, most articles are provided with introductory 'fast track' paragraphs in Italics, like this. There are a couple of pages of historical and other facts that all Campbells could benefit from knowing.
But for those with the time or depth of interest, the fuller articles are intended to provide you with the basic essentials and enough of the subtleties to entice you into further reading and research. Click on the arrows by each heading to explore the subject further.
SCOTLAND
The Campbells come originally from Scotland, the northern part of Great Britain. Geographically, Great Britain and Ireland are a collection of islands off the Atlantic coast of Europe.
The Romans, who invaded Britain in about 43 AD, called the central part of what is now Scotland 'Caledonia' and the early Celtic inhabitants they called Picts. The Picts called their land to the north of the Forth and Clyde estuaries 'Alba'. By 200 AD the Romans had left the north and in 500 AD Scots from Ireland took over Argyll, the southwestern part of the Scottish Highlands, calling their new kingdom Dalriada and eventually overcoming the Picts.
After King Kenneth MacAlpin joined the leadership of Alban Picts and Dalriadic Scots into one kingdom in about 843 AD, the name Scotland evolved.
Kings of Scots (never "Kings of Scotland") ruled from 843, barring a few English invasions, until 1603. On that date James VI of Scots, son of Mary Queen of Scots, inherited the throne of England on the death of Henry VIII's daughter Queen Elizabeth (who was without children), and so James became James VI of Scots and I of England, so bringing about an initial degree of unity between Scotland and England.
In 1707 the Treaty of Union united the British Isles into the United Kingdom of Great Britain. Parliament House in Edinburgh was turned into law courts and the English Parliament in London became the British Parliament. Today the distinct kingdoms of Scotland and England, with the principality of Wales and with Northern Ireland are parts of Great Britain. Northern Ireland, while geographically part of the island of Ireland, has so far remained within the United Kingdom by the choice of its electorate.
THE HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND
Geographers divide Scotland into two main regions, "Highland" and "Lowland" calling the border between the two areas the "Highland Line". The line runs roughly from Dumbarton on the Clyde in the southwest and follows the edge of the high country northeast into Aberdeenshire. The Highlands lie west and the Lowlands east of that line. All of Argyll, the county in which the Campbell family came to have the seat of their power, lies within the Highlands.
The difference between the cultures of the two areas increased with time as Lallans, or Lowland English, replaced the Gaelic as the common language in the Lowlands. Today the Gaelic survives in some of the outer islands with few speakers remaining on the mainland. However, the Scottish constitution declares that Gaelic is co-equal with English and a concerted effort is underway in the educational system to revive Gaelic. "Gaelic," which is the English word for the language, is pronounced "Gallick," with "gal" rhyming with "val" in "valley." "Gàidhlig," which is the Gaelic word for the language, is pronounced "Gahllick," with "gahl" rhyming with "doll" in "dolly."
Generally the Lowlands have richer farmland and all the industrial towns. In the Highlands the majority of the land is above the timber-line, with poor grazing among the heather and higher tundra. Much land in the valleys is wet or rocky and weather conditions are harsh. For social and political reasons much is made of early 19th century "clearances" from the Highlands and Islands, however certainly in Argyll, most people with initiative, even if little means, left of their own free will as richer lands overseas became available for settlement.
CAMPBELL ANCESTORS IN ARGYLL
Argyll is a county of about 100 miles in length north to south and slightly less in width. Including the inhabited islands, the coastline is over 1,000 miles in length.
Tradition holds that the first of the Campbell ancestors (still not yet called Campbell) who came into Argyll married Eva, daughter of Paul an Sporran and the heiress of the O'Duine tribe on northwestern Lochawe.
This ancestor may well have first been established in Argyll as a follower of the Earl of the neighboring Lennox when Alexander II, king of Scots, marched into Argyll to ensure the loyalty of its people. Alexander is said by Fordun, a Medieval writer, to have visited Argyll in 1222, and this period for a Campbell ancestral arrival on Lochawe is supported by the Gaelic genealogies and later charters.
The first of the name Cambel (the original spelling) who can be found in the surviving records was one who owned lands near Stirling in 1263. The earliest written date for a Cambel in Argyll is that for Duncan Dubh, landowner in Kintyre in 1293. The first date which survives for the Cambels on Lochawe is that for the killing of Sir Cailean Mòr (Great Colin) of Lochawe in 1296 when he was attacked by men of the Clan Dougall on the Stringe of Lorne. His family had been long established on Lochawe and at that time at least two other Cambels owned land in Argyll; Sir Duncan Dubh and Sir Thomas in Kintyre.
ORIGINS OF THE CAMPBELLS
Like most Europeans, the Scots are a blend of races: Neolithic survivors mixed with Celtic "Pict", Britonic Celt incomers, Celtic "Scots" invaders from Ireland, Viking and Norse raiders and settlers, Norman and Flemish knights and even some few Angles in the south. All these joined to add their genes to this sturdy race of people. Until cures for Scurvy (vitamin deficiency) and Smallpox were discovered in the 18th century, the people's hardiness was ensured by the survival of the fittest.
Like most Scots, all Campbells are a blend of races through maternal ancestry, although there were times from the 16th through the 18th centuries when, among some leading families in Argyll and Perthshire, they had grown so numerous as frequently to intermarry, intensifying their characteristics as a kin. Many also share the Scots Gaelic blood of the Dalriadic O'Duibne people whose heiress their ancestor married on Lochawe in the 13th century.
Their paternal ancestry is apparently from the Britonic Celts of Strathclyde, sometimes called the "Romano British" from the northwestern part of the early "Kingdom of Strathclyde".
The capital of Strathclyde was Al Cluit or DunBriton (now Dumbarton Rock) in the area known as the Lennox. According to legend, here in An Talla Dearg, the Red Hall of Dun Briton, was born the first ancestor of the Campbells who appears in all three of the early Gaelic genealogies; Smervie or Mervyn, son of an Arthur, who became known as "the Wildman of the Woods", perhaps being a notable hunter. If the legend is based upon a real character, he likely lived in the eleventh or twelfth century. However those names at that period can have absolutely no actual connection with the legendary Arthur, whose possible existence is said to have been many centuries earlier.
The name Campbell did not come into use until several generations later.
THE CAMPBELL NAME
It was Sir Cailean Mòr Campbell's grandfather Dugald of Lochawe who is said to have been the first given the nickname "Cam Beul" since Dugald apparently had the trait of talking out of one side of his mouth. Cam beul means "Curved Mouth" (or Wry-Mouth) in the Gaelic. This Dugald was so much loved and respected by his family that they took his nickname as their family name and held to it even beyond Argyll.
The spelling of the surname (family name) was originally Cambel.
David I King of Scots ruled from 1124 to 1153, was the son of Malcolm III 'Canmore' the King who disposes of Macbeth in Shakespeare's play, and St. Margaret of Wessex, daughter of the usurped Anglo Saxon line of King Edmund Ironside of England. It was King David I who imported Norman Knights as part of what is now known as the Davidian Revolution, a series of government, religious and societal reforms that changed Scotland from the Celtic warrior society, such as found in Ireland and Wales, into what we would recognize today as a "medieval state". Part of this process was the introduction of Feudalism, and to enforce that he imported Norman, Breton and Anglo Norman adventurer knights. This is when we see the arrival of families like Ramsay (Norman) De Brus (Bruce, Norman) Stewart (Breton) into Scotland. Many of these knights also held lands in England, their forefathers having crossed with William I (the Conqueror) of England, for example the De Brus were Earls of Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire as well as Earls of Carrick in Scotland. King David I's family had very close links to the powerbase in England, his sister Matilda married King Henry I of England, who cemented the Norman claim with that of the house of Wessex by marrying the granddaughter Edmund the Exile.
Thus the use of the spelling "Campbell" may have been as a result of either poor, or arrogant, Norman spelling, rather than Gaelic scribes, attempting to write the Gaelic name.
The name Cambel was first used by the family in the 13th century. The first chief of the clan to appear on record as "Campbell" may well have been Sir Duncan of Lochawe when he was created Lord Campbell in 1445.
In November 2006, C. Randell Seale of the Clan Campbell Society (NA) proposed a new theory that the "Campbell" name had a medical origin. In part, he noted that Einar Sigurdsson, Earl of Orkney (died 1020), was called Einar Wry-Mouth as was Bolesław III Wrymouth, Duke of Lesser Poland, Silesia and Sandomierz between 1102 and 1107 and over the whole of Poland between 1107 and 1138. Surviving works of Einar of Orkney and Boleslaw of Poland indicate a similar facial curvature even though the two men are not directly related.
The modern medical explanation for this facial curvature is a form of Torticollis (from the Latin torti, meaning twisted, and collis, meaning neck), or "wry neck". A condition in which the head is tilted toward one side (cervical rotation), and the chin (mouth) is elevated and turned toward the opposite side (cervical extension) thereby producing a "Cam beul" or curved mouth in some cases. "This explanation of naming Dugald as 'Wry Mouth' or 'Cam Beul' after his physical characteristic of a 'crooked mouth' is absolutely consistent with the Scottish Gaelic naming tradition of the time period; such as the Clan Cameron progenitor being named 'Cameron' for his 'crooked nose', or someone being named 'The Red' or 'The Fair' after their hair color or good looks." "It is also easier to believe that Dugald's family and descendants would accept and use such a name as their own, rather than some derogatory term tossed about by the Campbell competitors and enemies." Seale explained. This theory has gained considerable acceptance as to the origin of the Campbell name.
THE CLAN CAMPBELL
Clan comes from the Gaelic word 'clann' (pron. 'clown') meaning 'children.' There came to be roughly three uses of the word 'clan': for the large clans like Clan Campbell, Clan Donald and Clan Gordon; for the smaller clans like Clan Callum or Clan Lachlan; for the sub-clans or name groups within the larger clans like Clan Tavish or Clan Arthur (the McTavishes of Dunardry and McArthurs of Tirevadich).
The idea of all members of a clan being of one name is a Victorian misconception. Clans begin to emerge as recognizable units in the 12th and 13th century. Initially the Chief and the Chief's close kin were the leaders of the clan while their followers were the local people who were their tenants or who looked to them for leadership in defense. So while the Clan Campbell were led by Campbells, until about the 18th century, many of their followers, and sometimes even they themselves often used patronymics or father's names.
Patronymics lie behind many modern Scottish family names, particularly those now beginning with the 'Mac' or 'Mc' prefix, meaning 'son of'. Further, in early records these sometimes appear with 'Vic', meaning 'grandson of'. For example Archibald MacDougall V'Gillespic (Gaelic for Archibald) was Archibald son of Dougall son of Archibald. Sometimes, such as in the 16th century, such names might even appear followed by 'alias Campbell'. In modern times families who were not of Campbell origin yet who had long given their allegiance to the Chief of the clan have come to be called "septs".
SCOTLAND & THE CAMPBELL CHIEFS
For four hundred and fifty years, from 1457 onwards, the Chiefs of Clan Campbell played leading roles in the government of Scotland and later of Great Britain. When Colin Campbell of Lochawe was made first Earl of Argyll in 1457 and then Chancellor of Scotland, until the Union of the Kingdoms of Scotland and England in 1707, the Argyll family and their numerous followers had always to be taken into account where Scottish affairs were concerned.
In the mid 16th century, the time of Elizabeth of England and Mary Queen of Scots, the fifth Earl of Argyll could bring a larger army to the field than that of either queen and he was the only noble in the British Isles to have his own artillery. In the mid 17th century the 8th Earl and Marquis of Argyll ruled Scotland for a time.
From 1701 and for the next two hundred years, the Dukes of Argyll were frequently involved in the government of Great Britain. In the first part of the eighteenth century the second Duke both commanded British armies and served in the Cabinet, while the third Duke, his heir, administered Scotland. The 8th Duke was a Cabinet Minister in the British government. In the second half of the nineteenth century Lord Lorne, heir to the 8th Duke, married Queen Victoria's daughter and was Governor General of Canada. Two Dukes have been Field Marshals and one a 4-star General.
Today most of the aristocratic families of Britain, including the Duke of Argyll, prefer to serve their country in commercial, cultural and charitable roles and in preserving the extraordinary heritage of their architectural and archival treasures through free enterprise for the public good.
THE CLANS
An article by Alastair Lorne Campbell of Airds, Past Chief Executive of Clan Campbell, Unicorn Pursuivant.
I have been asked to write an article on the subject of clans for a forthcoming Encyclopedia of Scotland. The need to compress such a large subject into a few thousand words concentrates the mind wonderfully - perhaps no bad thing, when the subject under discussion, instead of being black and white is, as so often happens, a distinctly murky shade of grey!
CAMPBELL SEPTS AND ASSOCIATED NAMES
(The following information on the Septs of the Clan Campbell has been extracted from Volume I of AHistory of the Clan Campbell by Alastair Lorne Campbell of Airds.) The name 'sept' is given to members of a branch of a clan who do not share its name, although they may or may not be of the same blood.
Within a clan, following the Highland fashion of designating people by the names of their fathers, grandfathers, and sometimes more remote ancestors, other names could be used for certain family groups. Hence in Clan Campbell we have the MacTavish ('Son of Thomas' in Gaelic) sept, descended from a Thomas Campbell, the MacConnochie ('Son of Duncan', in Gaelic) sept, descended from a Duncan Campbell and early offshoots like the MacArthurs and the MacIvers who descend from the chiefly stock before the adoption of the name Campbell.
Other family kindreds who had no blood connection but who might be nativi or 'native men', former inhabitants of lands taken over by a new chief might also choose to follow him and to become septs of his clan.
The word Clann in Gaelic need signify no more than 'family' or 'children' and there were hundreds of such groups who made no pretence to set up as major powers on their own but who followed the local chief and became members of his clan.
Sometimes these smaller kindreds were widely spread and their branches could follow different Chiefs. And very often the same name could come from a whole range of unrelated sources particularly in the case of Mac-names, or patronymics as they are called, which mean 'Son of'.
The 19c enthusiasm for clans, fostered for their own reasons both by the tartan manufacturers and the Clan Societies, resulted in the attribution of as many names as possible to particular clans as septs - sadly only too often with ludicrous results. The idea that all Millers should belong to Clan Macfarlane or all Taylors to Clan Cameron is clearly untenable; this is not to say that the names were not used by members of those clans on occasion but they are both work-names of trades carried on in practically every community across English-speaking Britain. Nor is the suggestion that all sons of Harry, Gib, Thomas or Arthur, to take four names as examples, should descend from the same person of that particular name any more tenable. The same point needs to be made about names which derive from a place name and where the original form included 'de' or 'of'' and which would be used by anyone, related or not, who came from the place in question.
But every effort was made, often on the slimmest of reasons, to attach as many names as possible to the well-known clans. Some of these claims are based on nothing more than a lively imagination, others depend entirely on one single recorded instance of a connection, this being judged enough to assign all holders of the name to one clan or another.
Our list of septs is by no means perfect; there are some names whose inclusion would seem to be due more to this sept-hunting enthusiasm than to historical accuracy and there are many names which loyally followed the Campbell Chiefs for centuries which have not been included. Quite who was responsible for the compilation of this list or when, is unknown.
But rather than encourage still further confusion, our Chief has said that he does not wish to make any alterations to the 'official' list of Campbell sept names which follows.
Rather than do that, he said some years ago that he was prepared to accept as members of Clan Campbell all those of Scottish descent who were prepared to acknowledge him as their Chief. This very much follows what actually happened in past times when 'broken men' - those without a chief - attached themselves by his permission to a chief and became his men.
As will be seen different versions of the same name which have a common origin are grouped together. Names appear here which also appear under other clans; this is quite proper since, as already explained - in many cases there were quite different, unrelated ancestors in different parts of the country who gave their name to their descendants. If, in modern times, people with a sept name which appears under more than one clan, wish to show allegiance to a clan and have no idea from which area they originate, then they should chose one of the clans which is said to include their name. It is quite wrong to try to 'belong' to more than one clan.
Several septs have tartans assigned to them. This makes absolutely no difference to the status of the sept concerned and in no way implies that the name is a clan on its own. In cases where a sept quite properly appears under the name of more than one clan and is known to derive from more than one, unconnected source, the attribution of the tartan is actually misleading and those of the sept name should wear the tartan of the parent clan.
Spelling was an uncertain art and there is no significance in the various forms of spelling the same name. Nor is any significance to be taken from the various spellings of Mac, Mc, M', Mak or whatever.
The 'Official' list of Clan Campbell septs is, in alphabetical order: - (For more information, please click on the individual name.)
THE CLAN CAMPBELL SOCIETY
No Scottish clan was ever a legally constituted body and Clan Campbell is no exception to that rule. While the existence and power of the Chiefs to lead their kinsmen and followers was increasingly acknowledged as a political fact of life in Scotland, clans were never organized into the system of government.
The first Clan Associations or Societies were founded in the late 18th century as a means of keeping a sense of kinship among the increasingly scattered members of clans who were being drawn or driven away from their home communities by over-population, the industrial revolution or by opportunities for emigration.
Clan Societies are legally constituted bodies, generally run upon a democratic basis and with the Clan Chief as figurehead. Ideally they are non-political and with emphasis upon kinship and family above all else.
The culture of the Gael (Highlanders and Islanders) was long based upon the features of the landscape and association with landmarks. Consequently those who moved away soon lost all touch with their cultural heritage. Today modern travel and media make possible a re-forging of the links to that heritage for which many yearn as a point of stability in a swiftly changing world. The Clan Societies help each member to re-forge those links.
For Membership Questions please contact:
Membership
Clan Campbell Society (North America)
membership@ccsna.org
CAMPBELL HERALDRY
In Scottish heraldry there are NO "Clan Arms" or "Family Coats of Arms", whatever those attempting to sell you 'authentic' arms may state. The arms of the Chief, or of any individual, are their personal property and in Scots law may not be displayed except where indicating their presence or authority.
In Scotland the control of heraldry is equal in a certain sense to the United States registration of official seals and trade marks. It is official in law. The Lord Lyon is the Monarch's 'Supreme Officer of Honour in Scotland' to whom all heraldic matters have been delegated. He is a Judge of the Realm with considerable powers. While it can be argued correctly that Scots law does not extend beyond Scotland, members of Scottish clans and clan societies outside Scotland have an obvious vested interest in upholding the Scottish laws governing that clan's heraldry.
Every Scot granted arms is distinct from each other. Preference of the individual is taken into account subject to the laws of arms in designing new coats. Campbells display some version of the gyronny of eight which marks them as descendants of the forebears of the Chiefs of Clan Campbell.
CAMPBELL MUSIC
The demand for versions of the pipe tune known as "Baill Inneraora" (modern Gaelic: "Baile Inbhir Aora," "The Town of Inveraray") or "The Campbells are Coming" is a recurrent question. For that reason it seems appropriate to print two versions of the music here. One is from the repertory of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and the other by the late Ronnie MacCallum, Piper to His Grace the Duke of Argyll, Mac Cailein Mòr at Inveraray Castle.
"There is a great treasury of Campbell music which is little-known and had only been published in obscure places. There is a contemporary book as a source of information: The Clan Campbell Collection of Highland Pipe Music (Duntroon Publishing 2006). Complete with a Foreword by His Grace Sir Torquhil Ian Campbell, XIII Duke of Argyll, this book is available from traditional music shops, Inveraray Castle. Duntroon Publishing may be contacted by post at 120 St. Oswald's Avenue, Prenton, Wirral, CH43 7ZH, England UK.
Past CCSNA President David R. Campbell of Salt Lake City, Utah, USA complied a two CD collection called "Clan Campbell Connections to Scotland's Music" which is available in the CCEF Store. Disk 1 contains 21 tunes consisting of Reels, Strathspeys, Marches, Jigs, Pibrochs, etc. along with a written commentary which explains the connections to Clan Campbell. The 2nd disk centers mainly on early Pibrochs and the great highland bagpipe along with verbal commentary by Brigadier John Macfarlane, British Army and who retired as Ministry of Defence Director of Education and Training Services (Army). Brigadier Macfarlane was last native speaker of the Lorne dialect of Argyll Gaelic. Here is a short video of a BBC ALBA interview with Brigadier Macfarlane found on the LearnGaelic website.
CAMPBELL COUNTRY
Your enjoyment will depend largely upon your attitude of appreciation and a relaxed ability to forget a tight schedule and remain flexible, the only means of absorbing the quality of a place with such varied weather. Make every effort to avoid the strong temptation to make comparisons with other places, conveniences and styles of life. You are visiting a different culture and so take it all with a pinch of salt and do not anticipate too much. Remember you are there to see something different, not to find the comforts of home. Be kind to the people. Highlanders can be touchy if taken for granted, but are generally kindness itself when treated courteously. A note or post card of thanks will make you a friend.
Remember that you are in the far north and the summer days are very long. There is often light enough to take a walk in the long twilight after dinner. On the other hand, if you visit in winter, daylight may be as short as from 9am to 3pm and many places of touring interest will be closed. However then the local people will have more time to talk and, when and if the lowering clouds clear, the snow-capped hills can be spectacular.
SOME CAMPBELL CASTLES
While the history of Clan Campbell evolved in many places besides their great castles, the remains of such places are among the most evocative and interesting to visit today. Many of the local population would originally have been involved in their construction and supply, and many in their later defense and support. There are literally hundreds of Clan Campbell properties that are historically significant. Listed below are just a few of those.
Campbell castles and lands could be found in six parts of Scotland: Argyll, Angus, Ayrshire, Clackmannan, Nairnshire and Perthshire, although principally in Argyll where the home of the Chief, Inveraray Castle, is the most important to any Campbell visitor. The castle at Inveraray is open to the public in the summer season, except on Fridays.
Loudoun Castle in Ayrshire, southwest of Glasgow, is a magnificent but unsafe ruin still in the hands of the family and not open to the public. The original keep or tower is encased in a later baronial palace. The castle was for centuries the seat of the ancestors of the Campbell Earls of Loudoun. Their descendants still own the land.
Castle Campbell in Clackmannan, north of Edinburgh and east of Stirling, stands in one of the most spectacular positions in Scotland. Now in the hands of the government, the castle is partly restored and is open to the public. The walk up the glen from Dollar is rough but very worthwhile. The castle was the eastern place of the Earls of Argyll, who were often at the royal residences of Stirling and Falkland nearby.
Cawdor Castle in Nairnshire, just east of Inverness, stands massive amid flower gardens and is open to the public in summer. The oldest part of the castle was built in the thirteen hundreds and, since the family spent two centuries in Wales, it is one of the best preserved and least altered early castles. The estate is still in the hands of the Campbell Earls of Cawdor whose maternal ancestors were the medieval Thanes of Cawdor.
Taymouth Castle in Perthshire at the east end of Loch Tay is west of Pitlochry and Aberfeldy. This early Victorian gothic pile has a remarkable interior. The grounds are a golf course and the drives have public access. The house was the seat of the Campbell Earls and Marquises of Breadalbane.
Those listed here are only a selection of the more formidable of the Campbell castles. Innis Chonnel is not open to the public. Inveraray and Cawdor are, of course, still inhabited but are open to the public for an entrance fee on certain days in season. The others are open to the public in summer.
HIGHLAND DRESS
Highland dress in modern form is not a "costume" but Scottish National Dress in the same sense as Native Americans, Norwegians, Nigerians, Ukranians or Korreans in the United States have each their own National Dress.
When Highland dress is re-designed in an attempt at historical reproduction it ceases to be Scottish National Dress and becomes costume.
Scottish National dress can be worn to a wedding or funeral or to an official event without your being considered a 'movie extra' or a Halloween 'trick or treater'.
This does not mean that wearing costume is wrong or that National Dress is right, but it means that the difference must be clearly understood if the use of either is to be appropriate.
This is particularly important if Scottish National Dress is to survive and not fragment into a plethora of individualist's variations and die. Despite a brief but highly inefficient banning of Highland dress in the third quarter of the 18th century, it continued to be worn, particularly in the Highland regiments of the British army, and modern Highland dress is the on-going result of continuing evolution since very early times. This is a tradition worth cherishing.
CAMPBELL TARTAN
An excellent and authoritative book has been written on Campbell tartans and every Campbell family should have one in their reference library. The Campbell tartan authorized by the Chief as appropriate for all of Clan Campbell is known in the clan as Campbell tartan and in the trade by various names; "ancient Campbell", "Black Watch", "ancient Black Watch". The colors are ONLY green, black and blue. The shades or tones of the colors may vary from different weavers but the choice of these is a matter for your taste.
Almost all published books on Scottish clans and Tartans, with the exception of the second edition of that by the late Sir Ian Moncreiffe, have errors in their illustrations for Clan Campbell. The confusion results from asking the weavers instead of the Chiefs about which is their clan's tartan.
There are other specific tartans authorized for descendants of the Loudoun, Breadalbane and Cawdor branches of Clan Campbell. The trade has not created the same deliberate or thoughtless confusion about these, although they may be hard to find.
"Argyle", with white and yellow lines, and "Dress", with areas of white, are NOT AUTHORIZED tartans, although the Argyle is heavily promoted by the trade. Those who already possess non-authorized tartans should not hesitate to wear them. However if innocently stuck with those, you may like to wear a tie, plaid or scarf of authorized tartan so as to show your loyalty to the authority of Clan Campbell and in order to be able to show others the right tartan to buy. That is for you to choose.
Please visit Clan Campbell Tartans for detailed information on the correct tartans. Also, a number of members of the Clan Campbell Society (North America) Executive Council are very knowledgeable in tartans history and welcome the opportunity to assist new Clan Campbell kilt and tartan buyers in making the correct choices.
GENEALOGY
The Clan Campbell Society (NA) Genealogy Program serves as a clearing house of information concerning CAMPBELL data. The process is threefold: (1) gathering and processing data, (2) researching these data, and (3) analyzing and reporting findings.
- Searching For Ancestors: A Genealogy Primer
- Genealogical Research in Scotland
- The CCS(NA) Genealogy Program
- Research Contacts
NOTABLE DATES FOR THE CLAN CAMPBELL
Timelines are often used in education to help students of history and researchers with understanding the order or chronology of historical events and trends for a subject.
Here are a few of the important events in Clan Campbell history from 1263 to 2008.
CAMPBELLS IN NORTH AMERICA
Campbells have played many roles in the development of the two great nations of North America, Canada and the United States. Much of their influence remains to be documented yet here are a few, selected almost at random, whose lives have counted strongly in thought, health, education, the military, exploration, industry, agriculture and government.
CAMPBELLS AND MACDONALDS
One of the very few things which many Scots, both in Scotland and overseas, know about the Clan Campbell is that it was at times in conflict with Clan Donald.
American Campbells are now often surprised by the vehemence they encounter when mentioning their name among Scots. The jokes and rancour about Campbell and MacDonald have their roots both in truth and in the lack of real knowledge of the average Scot, both in Scotland and overseas, about the facts of their history. Too often it is much easier to take color from the trite inventions of Victorian novelists or the shallow captions of modern tourist literature. But the historical truth is often far more stimulating.
The strength of feeling has been stirred in recent years by the greater number of overseas Scots who have visited Scotland and are interested in their history. They have sometimes run into the unexpected depth of feeling about the Campbells and found it intriguing.
The truth about the Campbells and the MacDonalds is that they had a love-hate relationship for reasons beyond their control. Surprisingly often they were allies and more surprisingly they often inter-married.
CAMPBELL FAQ (FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS)
Here is one of the must read sections. Clan Campbell facts to know by heart.
CLAN CAMPBELL READING LIST
The books listed here are primarily of interest to people studying the background of the Clan Campbell in Scotland. For references on North American Campbells see the back issues of the Journal of the Clan Campbell Society (USA/NA), the Dictionary of National Biography (both that for Canada and for the United States of America) and apply for catalog of the Society Library from the Society Genealogist and Librarian.
LINKS PAGE
Many references to the Clan Campbell can be found throughout the Internet. A list of sites that are of interest to Campbells and researchers alike can be found on our links page.
If you know of good internet resources, please contact the webmaster, also if you know of other Campbell Sites please send the URL's.
Yours in Clan Campbell Kinship...